The Masquerade Ball
by Tyem Marodyor
Summary: A notice is put up announcing a masquerade ball for the Hogwarts students. And Lily Evans has a brilliant plan to see if James really knows her...and she MIGHT go out with him...might...
1. The Notice Is Up

**Chapter 1**

**Disclaimer: **Um, I don't remember owning Harry Potter or anything associated with it, but then again, I can't remember what happened last night…

"We're holding a what?" Lily Evans asked the notice board blankly.

"Not quite sure if the board will answer you Evans," said James Potter, smirking beside her.

"Shut it Potter, I've no time for your snide comments," Lily replied and walked over to her two best friends, Vanessa Kidde and Heather O'Reilly. "Did I read correctly?" she asked them.

Heather looked up to the ceiling of the common room in thought. "Well, unless you can't read, which is quite likely when you think about it…"

Lily punched her friend playfully.

"Then yes, you probably did read the board correctly."

"I haven't read it yet," said Vanessa. "What does it say?"

"Hogwarts is holding a masquerade ball," answered Lily, a frown appearing on her face. "I wonder why?"

"It was the seventh years," Heather answered immediately. "They wanted to do something exciting but with mystery, so I guess a masquerade ball fitted the bill."

"But why?" moaned Vanessa. "I haven't got anything to wear…"

"You do realize you say that every time you have to wear something other then your robes don't you?" asked Lily.

"She even says it when she has to wear her robes," said Heather.

"Quiet you," said Vanessa, but she was smiling. Her friends were right; she was always complaining about having nothing to wear.

As the three friends left for the Great Hall for breakfast on that Saturday morning, they were stopped halfway by James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.

"So Evans, thought about that dance?" James asked her.

Lily gave him a look of loathing. "As if Potter. I'd rather go with the giant squid."

"I'm beginning to think that you like that squid over me," said James in response.

"Are you only thinking that now?" Lily said. "I would have thought I'd made that obvious by now."

"So are you coming with me or not?" James asked again.

"Potter, for God's – hold on." Lily turned to her friends and winked at them, signalling that she had a plan. She turned back to James. "Actually Potter, I would like to come with you."

James was stunned and so were the rest of the Marauders. They hadn't expected Lily to agree to go out with Potter, ever.

"Uh, excuse me?" James said feebly.

"I said I will go with you," Lily said, grinning. "And Potter listen very carefully…I will be wearing a green dress. Green. Remember that Potter." She grinned mysteriously before walking off with Heather and Vanessa.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that," said Sirius. "Were you, Prongs?"

James was still watching after Lily with a stunned expression on his face.

"Prongs?" asked Sirius, waving a hand in front of his face. "Oh, let's just leave him. I'm hungry."

**.x.x.x.**

"Okay, Lily, what's going on?" asked Vanessa as soon as they sat down for breakfast.

Lily smiled mischievously. "We're gonna dress up as each other to see if the guys who like us, recognize us," she replied.

Her answer was met with blank looks. "Look, what we're gonna do is tell the guys who ask us to go with them what colour dresses we'll be wearing. Then, since we'll be masked, all we'll have to do is change our hair colour."

Vanessa grabbed her ponytail protectively. "Oh no, I just dyed the underneath of this purple. I'm not changing again so soon."

Lily sighed.

So did Heather. "Vanessa, you're a witch. We'll change it right back."

Vanessa calmed down. "Right."

Lily rubbed her hands together. "Okay. Heather can dress up as Vanessa; I'll dress up as Heather and Vanessa you can dress up as me."

"Great," scowled Vanessa. "Stuck with Potter."

"Okay then," said Lily, rethinking her plan. "Heather, dress up as me, I'll dress up as Vanessa and Vanessa can dress up as Heather."

Vanessa smiled. "Lupin's better than Potter."

"And I can tolerate Potter…for a while at least," said Heather.

Lily grinned at her friends. "Great. Let's put this plan into action."

**.x.x.x**

**Another new story…if you liked it, please review, I'd really appreciate it…**

**Have fun on your summer holidays all you people in Australia!**


	2. Let's Get This Plan Working

**Chapter 2**

**Disclaimer: **I still believe that I don't own Harry Potter or anything associated with it, but I've still got years to live, so you never know…

"Right," Lily said, looking at the three dresses she had laid out on her bed. Vanessa and Heather stood around her. "After thinking this plan through just a bit more carefully, I've realized we're also gonna have to change our eye colour too."

"Aww, but I like my eyes," complained Heather.

Lily gave her a look. "Heather, we all have to do stuff we don't want to for this ball next week. We've only got seven days, so let's get this plan working."

"Yeah, you get to hang out with Sirius and I get stuck with Lupin," said Vanessa, pouting.

Lily sighed and closed her eyes.

Heather understood her friend's annoyance. "Look, let's stop complaining and plan our mischievous night out."

Lily smiled gratefully. "Okay. Now I'm wearing a green dress which means that it's yours Heather."

Heather picked up the green ball gown and held it up in front of herself. "I'm not sure if it'll suit really."

"It will after we change your hair and eyes," said Lily. She picked up the next dress which was sky blue. "Heather, you have to tell Remus that you'll be wearing a sky blue dress."

Heather nodded.

"Which means that it's yours, Vanessa," continued Lily, handing the dress to Vanessa.

Vanessa looked at it critically. "Hmm, after my eyes are blue and my hair's brown, I'm sure it'll suit. Although, it is last season's cut…and the curls might not suit…"

Heather tossed her long brown curls. "My mother said I looked like a princess. And it does suit. And it's not last season's cut…it's the season's cut before that."

Vanessa looked horrified.

"Don't worry about it," Lily said quickly. "No-one will notice." She held up the last dress which was black with a red ribbon around the waist. It looked very stylish.

"I bought that because it was the newest thing," said Vanessa matter-of-factly. "And it's this season's cut, the most in thing I own."

Lily looked at the dress carefully. "I s'pose I don't really have a choice to not wear it, do I?"

"No," said Heather and Vanessa together.

"Good thing we're all the same size," said Lily, still examining the black and red dress. "Otherwise, we'd have a few more problems."

The other two nodded.

Lily looked at her two best friends. "I guess we'd better go see what they look like on. And change your hair and eyes too."

They took turns using the bathroom and didn't look at each other until they were all ready.

Lily looked at her friends through her now hazel eyes. She patted her purple and ash blonde hair. "How do I look?" she asked her friends.

Heather, although she looked like Lily, and Vanessa, although she looked like Heather, giggled.

Heather smoothed down the folds in her green dress. Her emerald green eyes sparkled. "This is like playing dress-ups," she said, twirling Lily's trademark red hair around her finger.

Vanessa swept Heather's long brown curls into a matching sky blue ribbon. "I was wrong," she said, looking down at herself through her blue eyes. "The curls go quite well with this dress and you can hardly tell that it's two seasons out of date."

Lily and Heather rolled their eyes.

"Do I look like you, Vanessa?" Lily asked, posing in front of her.

Vanessa watched her critically. "No," she said shortly.

"Why?"

"Your posture is all wrong," said Vanessa correctively. "I stand with more grace, you're walking like yourself." She fixed Lily up so she stood tall. She stood back. "Much better. Only your face doesn't look like mine."

Lily picked up a matching black and red mask from her bed. "No matter, I'll be hidden behind this."

"Nice," said Heather and she picked up the green one. She batted her eyes behind the mask. "Do I look like Lily, or what?" she said.

Lily giggled. "Firstly, I don't bat my eyes. I'm not as flirty as you. Secondly, you're holding yourself all wrong. Walk in front of me."

Heather did as she was told.

When she stopped, Lily shook her head. "No, I walk much more daintily. Mother didn't sign me up for ballet for nothing." She corrected Heather carefully and told her to walk again. "Brilliant," she said when Heather had the hang of it.

"What about me, Heather?" asked Vanessa and she walked in front of Heather.

Heather laughed. "You're so wrong. You walk with too much of a superior air. I'm much more of a common person."

"Oh, you mean like this," said Vanessa and she walked in imitation of Heather.

"Perfect," said Heather, smiling.

Vanessa laughed. She had been mocking Heather. She picked up the sky blue mask from the bed. "Do I, or don't I, look like Heather?" she said, smiling.

Lily could hardly tell that it was Vanessa. "You look just like her."

"Thank you," said Vanessa, unmodestly. She was used to compliments.

Heather looked into the full length mirror dreamily. "I wonder what Remus will be wearing?"

"Probably something to match your dress that's not really yours," said Lily. Then a shocked expression took over her face. "Oh my God! Sirius and Remus haven't asked you two yet, have they?"

Heather and Vanessa shook their heads.

"Take the dresses off and undo those charms on your eyes and hair, then go find them," ordered Lily hurriedly. "Come on, go, go, go."

Vanessa and Heather changed back into their robes and raced off to find Sirius and Remus.

**.x.x.x.**

**So, do we like the story? I personally am having heaps of fun writing it, I've waited a long time to have the chance to write a story about a masquerade ball.**

**Please keep reviewing, I really like the feeling I get when someone likes my story!**

**Australia is so hot! Someone send us some water, please! I miss those days when you could run under the sprinkler when it got this hot!**


	3. A Spell Gone Wrong

**Chapter 3**

**Disclaimer: **To tell you the truth, I don't actually own much…least of all Harry Potter.

"Peanut butter jelly time! Peanut butter jelly time! Where ya at? Where ya at? Peanut butter jelly time! Peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly and a baseball bat!"

"Vanessa!" cried Heather. "Will you please stop singing that?"

Vanessa took on an expression of mock thought. "Let's see…no! Peanut butter jelly time, peanut butter jelly-"

"Now that all of our plans are in place," said Lily loudly over Vanessa's continuous singing.

Vanessa quietened down.

"We can get on with dressing up as each other," Lily continued.

"Oh goody!" cried Vanessa and she ran into the bathroom with her dress.

Lily looked to Heather, who had known Vanessa longer. "Um, does she like playing dress-ups?"

Heather nodded.

Soon, the three girls were dressed and had charmed each other's hair and eyes.

"I love this dress!" cried Vanessa, spinning around.

"One minute she hates it, the next she's loving it," muttered Heather.

"Alright, I think we get the idea," said Lily, changing her eyes back to their normal green. "Let's get back into our normal robes now."

When the three of them were back to normal, Vanessa began fiddling with her hair.

"You know," she said. "I don't think this purple's quite right. I think I'll charm it darker." She picked up her wand and pointed it at her hair.

Lily dived forward. "No Vanessa! You know what happened last time you did that!"

But Vanessa was quicker. No sooner than she had uttered the spell, that all of her hair turned a deep purple. "Eep!" she squealed. "What happened?"

Lily, who had landed on the floor, was now being helped up by Heather. "We tried to warn you," she muttered, rubbing her arm.

"Change it back!" squealed Vanessa, running in a circle. "Change it back!"

Heather picked up her wand and grabbed Vanessa's hair.

"Ouch! It's still attached you know!"

Heather muttered the reversing charm but the hair stayed a deep purple. "Oh dear," she said, her voice now holding a trace of concern. "I think it's permanent."

Vanessa's face took on a look of deepest horror. "No! It can't be! Change it back! Change it back!"

"Oh, let me handle the screaming child," said Lily, walking forward and taking Vanessa's hair. She muttered a different charm at it, but the hair remained the deep purple. "Oh," she said, stepping back. "You have got a problem there."

Vanessa looked at her two smart friends desperately. "Don't you have a charm that'll fix it? Please say you do…"

Lily and Heather shook their heads.

"Sorry, Vanessa," said Lily. "It's a spell gone wrong."

Vanessa put her face in her hands.

**.x.x.x.**

On Monday morning, Lily, Heather and Vanessa walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast; Vanessa aware of the pointing and whispers.

"I hate being a witch," she muttered, sitting down at Gryffindor table.

"Why?" asked Heather, taking some porridge.

"Because, you can't fix everything," Vanessa complained and began nibbling on some toast.

The four Marauders came up behind the three girls.

Lily turned around quickly. "Any snide comments form any of you will earn you the right to take no-one to the Masquerade Ball," she said coolly.

They took a quick step back, except for Sirius.

He blinked at the sight of Vanessa. "Um, Vanessa?"

Vanessa turned around. "What is it? Come to mock my hair to my face?" she asked, frowning at him.

"No," replied Sirius. "I just wanted to say how cool your hair looks like that. It suits you."

"C'mon, let's go, Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail," said James, taking his three friends up to the other end of the table.

Vanessa had gone pink. "He likes my hair…he really likes my hair…" she said to herself dreamily.

Lily and Heather shook their heads.

**.x.x.x.**

**Thank you, my lovely readers, you (the ones who have reviewed) have really made me want to keep writing this story. I really am getting into it now!**

**Have a merry Christmas in 17 days! And please wish me a happy birthday in 20 days!**


	4. Damn, Damn, Crap

**Chapter 4**

**Disclaimer:** I own the pieces of tinsel in my hair and that's probably all. I most certainly don't any of Harry Potter…or do I…?

"It's purple!" wailed Vanessa.

"We know," said Heather, putting her head down on the desk. Remus winked at her from across the library. Heather sat up again.

"I can't believe Professor Flitwick couldn't fix it," said Vanessa, twirling her hair around her finger.

Lily suddenly looked up from the essay she had been working on. "Oh no," she said. "I've just had a sudden thought."

"What?" asked Heather.

"If Vanessa's hair is like that, does that mean I'll have to change mine to that?"

Heather and Vanessa nodded.

"Damn, damn, crap," said Lily, hitting her head on the desk.

"It goes well with the dress," said Heather, trying to be helpful.

Lily gave her a look.

Vanessa took her wand and held it as if she was saying an oath. "From now on, I am never gonna try and magically change my hair," she vowed.

"What if we can't change it to my colour and style?" said Heather abruptly, thinking of their disguises.

Vanessa's eyes went wide. "We'd better go and test. Watch our stuff, Lily." The two ran off to the bathroom.

"Okay," said Lily, not really listening.

"Hello Evans," said James, seizing his chance and sitting beside her.

"What do you want Potter?" Lily asked, still writing her essay.

"Such a nice greeting. You should stick with it." James paused for a moment. "Um, I'm just doing a last minute check. You'll be wearing a green dress, right?"

"Right," said Lily. "Green, Potter."

"Right," said James, standing up. "Green." He walked back to the other Marauders. "Green," he told them.

"Blue," said Remus.

"Black 'n' red," said Sirius.

"Red and yellow and pink and green. Purple and orange and blue," sang Peter.

The others stared at him.

"What? Don't tell me you didn't learn that song in Muggle school," said Peter.

**.x.x.x.**

"Okay, tonight we're going to learn how to put on make-up," said Vanessa on Tuesday night. "We've got until Saturday night, so let's get going." Vanessa pulled a large trunk from under her bed.

"Hang on," said Heather slowly. "Do you carry two trunks around or is that one spare in case the other's stolen?"

"No, silly," said Vanessa, flicking the catches. "This is my make-up trunk." She began pulling out blush, eyeliner, eye shadow, lip gloss, lipstick, mascara and all sorts of other products.

Lily blinked at the sight of all the make-up. "Um, normally, I only wear a bit of lip gloss."

"And that's why you've only got James Potter hanging off you," said Vanessa matter-of-factly. "See me, I wear make-up and I get almost every boy, including Sirius Black, wanting me."

Heather and Lily exchanged looks.

Vanessa held up mascara. "Now you know what this is, right?"

Heather and Lily nodded.

"Now, do you know how to apply it?"

Heather and Lily looked at each other then shook their heads slowly.

"Well, let's learn then," said Vanessa, opening the mascara.

After half an hour, Lily and Heather were able to put on the mascara themselves.

"I have to admit," said Heather, batting her eyes at her reflection, "mascara actually suits me."

Vanessa nodded. "It really brings your eyes."

"Oh, I don't know," said Lily nervously. She looked at her eyes in the mirror.

"Hmm, maybe putting it all around your eyes doesn't work," said Vanessa coming over with her wand. She cleaned the mascara off with a single wave and pulled the mascara out of her pocket.

"Vanessa, what are you gonna do?" Lily asked worriedly.

Slowly and carefully, Vanessa applied mascara to the top lashes of Lily's green eyes. "There you go," she said, stepping back.

Lily looked at herself again. "Actually, that suits me much better."

Vanessa smiled. "Now, we'd better get it all off, otherwise it'll be all over our pillows."

They pulled out their wands and wiped their faces clean.

Heather yawned. "I'm tired."

"I'm not," said Vanessa, jumping on her bed excitedly. "Peanut butter jelly time! Peanut butter jelly time! Where ya at? Where ya at? Peanut butter jelly time! Peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly and a baseball-"

"_Petrificus Totalus!_" said Heather, pointing her wand at Vanessa.

Vanessa fell to the floor, as rigid as a board.

"Finally," sighed Lily. "Peace and quiet."

**.x.x.x.**

**Did you like this chapter? When my friend read it, she liked it, except when she got petrified…don't worry, it's a friend thing. **

**Anyway, thought you'd like to know that I basically wrote that whole chapter in maths! Well, we weren't doing anything so I thought I'd do something constructive. And that constructive thing is writing more of my story. Don't you think?**


	5. Fashion Disaster!

**Chapter 5**

**Disclaimer:** If you think I own Harry Potter, you need help. Serious help.

"A black tie with green stripes? Are you joking me?"

"It'll match Lily's dress," said Remus, tying James' tie for him.

The four Marauders were in their dormitory, making sure that their suits and masks fitted them properly and matched their partners' dresses.

"But I don't like green," James complained.

"I have to wear a black and red tie," said Sirius, smoothing his down.

"Yeah, but that's cool," said James.

"Mine's blue and black," said Remus. "It actually looks alright."

"Mine's a black and pink spotty one," said Peter.

The other three turned to look at him.

"What?" asked Peter.

"Who are you going with, then?" asked Sirius, hardly daring to believe that Peter had a partner.

"Sally-Rose Jackson."

"Sally-Rose Jackson?" repeated James. "Who the hell is she?"

Sirius sighed. "Sally-Rose," he said in a well-rehearsed voice, "is a short redhead who thinks she is extremely smart, but actually only just scrapes through her classes. She is a half-blood, her father being a Muggleborn and her mother being a Muggle." Sirius paused to take a breath. "She is a member of many school clubs, such as Charms, to try and bring up her grades, I think."

Peter blinked blankly at Sirius. "Thanks, Padfoot, for that brief history of my partner," he said with a note of sarcasm in his voice.

"You're welcome," said Sirius, smoothing down his tie again.

James, Sirius and Remus joined hands and danced in a circle around Peter, singing, "Peter's got a date! Peter's got a date!"

Peter went pink.

"Did she ask you, or did you ask her?" Remus asked.

"I asked her," Peter mumbled.

Sirius and Remus laughed harder.

"Hey guys," said James. "Give him a break. Isn't it nice that Peter's found love?"

Sirius and Remus stifled their laughter. They nodded their heads with difficulty.

"It's alright Peter," said James. "It's just taken this little bit longer to notice girls, hasn't it?"

Peter nodded meekly.

"Oh, I give up," said James and he joined in Sirius and Remus' laughter.

**.x.x.x.**

"Fashion disaster!" yelled Vanessa. "Fashion disaster!"

"What is it?" asked Heather, sitting on her bed, reading a book. Lily was doing the same whilst Vanessa dug through her two trunks.

"We don't have any shoes!" cried Vanessa.

"That's nice," said Lily.

"No, you don't understand!"

Heather looked over the top of her book. "Vanessa, we'll be wearing dresses that go down to the floor. I seriously doubt that we'll need to worry about our shoes."

"But what if we dance the Volta?"

Lily looked over the top of her book. "What the hell is that?"

"It's an old English dance where you have to show your knees. And that means you have to show your shoes!" said Vanessa, explaining very quickly.

"Oh get over it," said Lily looking back at her book. "Just bewitch some old ones."

"No! I need new ones!" Vanessa grinned evilly. "I know," she said more quietly. "Let's sneak out to Hogsmeade this evening. I know a boutique that's open until ten."

"Um, you do realize that we're not supposed to go to Hogsmeade unless we're on an outing, right?" said Lily, her voice rising with frustration towards the end of her sentence. She had her reputation as a prefect to consider.

"Of course I do," replied Vanessa. "Like I said, we'll sneak out."

Heather rolled her eyes. "How do you suppose we sneak out of Hogwarts, past all of the security, slip through the gates and into Hogsmeade where we will probably get recognized as Hogwarts students and get sent back and be caught by McGonagall?"

Vanessa looked down at the floor. "I dunno," she said eventually. "But I need shoes, Heather, surely you understand that."

Heather rolled her eyes again. "Fine, I'll come with you. But we're wearing disguises, alright?"

Vanessa grinned. "Fine." She turned to Lily. "What about you?"

Lily sighed. "Fine, me too. But like Heather said, only if we wear disguises."

"Let's get disguised then," said Vanessa, rubbing her hands together.

**.x.x.x.**

**Hope you liked that chapter folks! I can't wait until the three girls get into Hogsmeade. How do you think they'll get there? **


	6. I Cut My Hair For The Sake Of Shoes

**Chapter 6**

**Disclaimer:** I own a bear. His name is Rainbow Bear. I own him. I don't own Harry Potter. J. K. Rowling does. Please understand that.

"Why do I have to dress up as the boy?" asked Lily.

"Because you look the most like one," replied Vanessa, applying heavy mascara.

"Still," grumbled Lily. "I don't see why."

Heather stood up. "How old do I look?"

Vanessa turned away from the mirror and looked at her critically. "Hmm. I'd put you at nineteen at the youngest."

Heather smiled. "Perfect."

Lily turned around. "How do I look?"

"Like a girl in boy's clothing," said Vanessa. She stood up, holding her wand. "We need to cut your hair."

"Oh no," said Lily, stepping back and holding her hair protectively. "And even if I wanted to, I'm not letting you do it."

"Lily, you keep forgetting," said Heather, pulling on her boots and cloak. "We're witches. We can put a growth spell on it and it'll be as good as new."

Lily looked between her two friends' faces. "Alright," she said, after a pause. "But Heather's doing it."

Vanessa shrugged and let Heather come forward with her wand. With a Severing Charm, Heather cut Lily's hair into a short, boyish style.

Vanessa smiled at Heather. "Brilliant. Now she looks just like a boy out of school."

Lily looked at her now short hair in a mirror. "I cut my hair for the sake of shoes," she remarked.

"Quite right," said Vanessa. "How old am I?"

"You're sixteen," replied Heather.

Vanessa gave her a look. "How old do I look?"

Heather watched her carefully. "Hmm, you could pass for twenty-five if you stopped twirling your hair like a sixteen year old."

Vanessa stopped.

"C'mon," said Heather, giving Lily and Vanessa their cloaks. "Let's get out of here."

The three girls had skipped dinner to got ready to sneak out, so there was no-one in the common room.

"Right. The plan is-" began Vanessa but she was interrupted.

"What are two twenty-something girls and a young boy doing in Gryffindor common room?" asked James, pulling off his Invisibility Cloak.

Lily, Heather and Vanessa's jaws dropped.

"Potter," hissed Lily. "Shouldn't you be at dinner?"

James' eyes went wide. "Evans? Is that you? And Kidde? And O'Reilly?"

They nodded.

"Where in Merlin's name are you going dressed like that?"

"We're sneaking out to Hogsmeade," said Heather as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

Lily elbowed her in the ribs. "Git," she whispered.

"Well you won't get there without me," boasted James.

"I think we can," said Lily defiantly. She tried to toss her hair, but it didn't work because there wasn't enough to toss.

"What? Without an Invisibility Cloak?" he asked them, waving his at them.

The three girls gasped.

"You have an Invisibility Cloak?" asked Lily, stunned.

James nodded, smirking.

"But-but-but they're really rare, they are," stuttered Vanessa.

"I know," said James. "So, do you want to use it?"

Lily, Heather and Vanessa nodded.

"Okay," said James. "You can use it on one condition."

The girls looked at him expectantly.

"I'm coming with you."

"No way," said Lily strongly.

"Well then," said James, pulling the Cloak back, "you can't use it."

"But, we're doing shoe shopping," said Vanessa.

"No matter. I know a secret entrance into Honeydukes that's probably the only way we'll get in."

"But it's shoe shopping," said Heather. "Why would you want to go shoe shopping with three girls?"

James looked at Lily. She groaned.

"You're a student though," said Vanessa.

"Well, someone can be my mother and the other two can be my brother and sister and we can be a family, doing some shopping."

"That's a good plan," Heather had to admit.

"So who will be my mother?" asked James.

They all looked to Vanessa. She sighed. "Fine."

"But we look hardly anything alike," said Lily.

"Let me do something," said Heather, coming forward with her wand. She charmed Lily's eyes hazel. "Now, at least three of us look alike."

"Under here then," said James, covering them all with his Cloak.

They left through the portrait hole with difficulty.

"Ow," said Lily loudly as they walked along a corridor. "You stepped on my foot, Potter."

"Shut up," said James quietly. "Or we'll have Filch after us."

They reached the statue of the humpbacked, one-eyed witch.

"_Dissendium_," said James, tapping her hump with his wand. It opened to reveal a hole. "C'mon Kidde, you go first, then go on O'Reilly."

Vanessa and Heather slid down.

"Evans," said James extravagantly, sweeping his hand towards the hole.

Lily jumped down and landed on damp earth.

James threw down his Invisibility Cloak, which covered Lily. Then he jumped down, landing on top of her.

"Potter, get off!" squealed Lily.

"Where are you?" asked James, looking around and standing up.

Lily threw off the Cloak. "Here," she said grumpily.

"Oh, hi Evans. When did you drop in?"

"Do we just go along here?" asked Heather gesturing along the passage.

"Yep," said James, helping a reluctant Lily to her feet. "Just keep going until you reach the trapdoor at the end."

They walked in silence along the musty passage.

Vanessa suddenly hit her head. "Ow! Son of a b-"

"The trapdoor!" said James. He threw the Cloak over them again and reached up to the handle and pushed.

"C'mon," he told them. "The coast is clear."

The four of them, still invisible, snuck out of the cellar of Honeydukes and into the still busy store. They opened the door and walked out into the street.

"The boutique's up the road," pointed Vanessa.

They walked awkwardly up the street, still under the Invisibility Cloak.

"Aah," said Vanessa as they stopped. "BeautWitch Boutique."

They took off the Cloak and walked inside the shop. A bell tinkled above the door.

"Darlings!" cried the shopkeeper, running forward. "Oh, a family is it?" she asked with a false French accent.

The four of them nodded quickly.

"What sort of occasion is it?" she asked.

Vanessa tossed her hair. "We require three pairs of ladies' shoes," she said. "In the colours of black, sky blue and green."

There was a sharp intake of breath from Lily.

The shopkeeper turned to her in concern. "Monsieur, is there something wrong?"

Lily shook her head quickly.

"Good. Now what sizes were you after?"

"Sevens," replied Vanessa.

"And what will you be doing in these shoes?"

"Dancing," Heather answered immediately.

"Aah, dancing. I know the perfect shoes." The shopkeeper hurried to the back room.

"What is your problem?" Vanessa hissed at Lily.

"How am I going to try on women's shoes?" Lily whispered back.

"Well, you take off your shoes and – oh," said Vanessa, realizing. "Well, maybe we'll tell her to get something or – Potter distract Annie when she comes back, so Lily can try the shoes on."

"You know her name?" asked James.

"I come here all the time," said Vanessa dismissively. "Now, shush, Annie's coming back."

"Darlings, here you go. Would you two ladies like to try them on first?"

"Quite," said Vanessa, pushing her cloak back and sitting down. "The black are mine."

"And the sky blue mine," said Heather, also sitting down.

"And what about the gre-"

"I quite like these trousers," interrupted James loudly.

"Oh darling!" said Annie, eager for another sale. She dropped the shoe boxes and hurried to James. "They are made by the finest Italian clothes makers…"

Lily dived for the green shoes and quickly tugged off her old joggers. She pulled on the dancing shoes and did a quick step or two. "They fit good," she said quietly. She pulled them off and stuffed them back into their box. Then she pulled on her joggers and stood still just as Annie turned around.

"Young monsieur, you do realize that your shoes are on the wrong feet, don't you?" she asked, frowning at Lily's feet.

"Um," said Lily, trying to make her voice sound gruff. "Yes, I think so."

Annie looked at her expectantly.

Lily realized and bent down to change her shoes back to their right feet.

"These shoes are perfect," announced Vanessa, standing up and putting the shoes back in the box. "We'll take all three."

Annie beamed. "That will be 204 Galleons."

Heather bit her lip. That meant the shoes were sixty-eight Galleons each. She couldn't possibly afford-

"Don't worry," said Vanessa, looking at Heather's worried face. "I'm paying."

They took their purchases and went back outside.

James checked his watch. "Well, that excursion was pointless. We didn't even do anything fun. And to tell you the truth, those pants were absolutely horrible."

"We told you," said Vanessa, "we were gonna be doing shoe shopping."

"Well, let's get back to school, hey?" said Lily. "Potter, the Invisibility Cloak."

James fanned it out and swept over the top of them. "Off to Honeydukes!" he said and marched forward, the three girls getting jostled behind.

**.x.x.x.**

**Sorry guys, I couldn't wait for you to send my your replies about what would happen. I just wanted to get this chapter up for you to read!**

**Hope you liked that chapter, my friends! I mainly wrote it during my Japanese lesson; we were only watching a video of this really famous movie that I had never heard of…anyway…**

**Please review if you liked it!**


	7. Gotcha

**Chapter 7**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter. He is the property of J. K. Rowling. I should hope you know that by now.

At breakfast on Thursday morning, Professor McGonagall stood up to address them.

"I'd like to see Mr Potter, Miss Evans, Miss Kidde and Miss O'Reilly in my office when you have finished."

Lily, Vanessa and Heather looked at each other.

"What did we do?" asked Lily.

"Snuck out to Hogsmeade," said Vanessa, not worried and eating her breakfast.

"Damn, damn, crap," said Lily, banging her head on the table.

"You really have to stop doing that," said Heather.

"I can't get into trouble," moaned Lily. "I'm a prefect."

"Everyone stuffs up sometimes," said Vanessa calmly.

"Not me," said Lily.

James came up behind them, grinning. "This is exciting, isn't it? Finally, we're getting into trouble. God, it took them long enough."

Lily glared at him. "That's not a good thing," she said harshly.

"Course it is!" James said, excitedly.

Professor McGonagall stopped behind them. "Come on, you four."

They followed her to her office.

"I am disgusted that you four thought that you could leave the school, at night, and not get caught," Professor McGonagall said. "Thank goodness we have at least one good student here…"

A smirking girl stepped out of the shadows. "Gotcha," she mouthed.

"Miss Annabelle Andrews here kindly told me of your excursion to BeautWitch Boutique last night."

"How did she-" began Heather.

"Her sister is Annie Andrews, who runs the boutique. Annabelle was helping there last night."

"How come she was allowed in there and not get in trouble?" interrupted James.

Professor McGonagall looked at James. "She had permission from her Head of House."

"And what house is that?" asked James.

"That is none of your business."

James scowled.

The girl smirked again and mouthed, "Slytherin."

James shot her a filthy look. "She's in Slytherin, professor, course she's out to get us!"

"Mr Potter, I will not tolerate anymore of these interruptions!" said Professor McGonagall angrily. "Now, Miss Andrews recognized you, Mr Potter, but the other three…"

"They were disguised, professor," Annabelle said in her annoying high pitched voice.

"D-Disguised?" repeated Professor McGonagall.

"Yes, professor. Kidde and O'Reilly were disguised as older women whilst Evans was disguised as a boy."

"But, Miss Andrews, she has such long-"

"She has bewitched it to grow back. She had it cut much shorter last night."

"She just interrupted you professor!" cried James. "And yet-"

"Be quiet Mr Potter!" Professor McGonagall turned to them all. "I am in my right mind to ban you all from the masquerade ball on Saturday night."

They all gasped and began protesting.

"No, professor, you can't-"

"That ball is what I'm here for-"

"Anything but the ball-"

"Give us detentions for the rest of the year, professor, just don't ban us," said James.

The girls glared at him for his suggestion.

Professor McGonagall thought for a moment. "Considering you three girls don't normally behave like this, I'm prepared to let you go. But Mr Potter…"

"Professor, we forced him to come with us," said Lily quickly.

James looked at her questioningly.

Professor McGonagall looked between the two of them. "Oh, alright. No punishment. All of you, out of my sight."

Annabelle lingered.

"That does include you, Miss Andrews," snapped Professor McGonagall.

Annabelle scurried out.

Lily, Vanessa, Heather and James walked down the corridor. James pulled Lily away from her friends.

"Thanks, Evans. You could have let me get into trouble, but you didn't. Does this mean you don't hate me as much as you used to?"

Lily looked away from him. "Uh…I have to…go now," she said as an excuse and hurried after Vanessa and Heather.

"So…?" asked Vanessa.

"What did he want?" asked Heather.

"He asked if I didn't hate him anymore," replied Lily.

"You don't do you?" smiled Vanessa. "You're actually beginning to like him, aren't you?"

"No," said Lily quickly and defiantly. She tossed her long-again red hair. "Come on, we have to get to Charms."

**.x.x.x.**

**I've decided that this story will only have ten chapters, and I've got them basically planned out, so this means there's only three chapters to go. I hope that you are all enjoying it…if you are, please review, that'll let me know if I'm doing a good job!**


	8. Don't Touch The Tie

**Chapter 8**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter. Can you tell anyone who thinks I do, that I don't?

"Finally!" said Vanessa, pulling on her stockings. "The night of the masquerade ball!"

"Hurrah!" cried Heather and she began waltzing with her teddy bear, Mr Cuddles.

Lily turned her back to Vanessa. "Can you zip me in?"

"Sure," said Vanessa, pulling Lily's zip up for her. "Can you do mine?"

"What about me?" said Heather. Lily did hers.

"Uh-oh," said Lily, watching Vanessa pull her stockings straight. "I forgot to put on my stockings."

"Off goes the dress!" said Vanessa. She pulled down Lily's zip.

"Thanks," said Lily. She slipped out of her dress and grabbed her white stockings out of the drawer. "I'm so forgetful sometimes." She tugged the stockings on.

"How do I look?" said Heather.

"Weird," said Vanessa. "Green is so not your colour."

"Oh right," said Heather. "I forgot to do the charms."

"The charms!" said Lily. "That could've turned into a disaster…" She pulled her dress back on and got Vanessa to redo the zip.

"Black and red so doesn't suit you," said Vanessa critically.

"Oh shut up. It'll suit me soon." Lily picked up her wand and changed her hair to Vanessa's colour.

"Purple does not go with green eyes!" giggled Heather.

"I'm changing it, I'm changing it," said Lily. She charmed her eyes hazel. Then she picked up her mask and held it in front of her face. "Am I Vanessa?"

"Yes," nodded Heather.

"Am I Heather?" Vanessa asked, holding up the sky blue mask and tossing her brown curls.

"Oh yeah," laughed Lily.

"And tell me," said Heather, holding up her green mask. "Am I Lily Evans?"

"Yes!" they all laughed.

**.x.x.x.**

"I still don't like this tie," said James.

"It's not my fault your date likes green," said Remus, knotting his tie.

"Um, this isn't right, is it?" said Sirius, coming out of the bathroom. His shirt was on backwards, his tie being used as a belt and his jacket tied by its sleeves around his waist.

Remus sighed and began pushing Sirius back into the bathroom. "Wrong, all wrong. Let's try again."

Ten minutes, Sirius and Remus came out looking perfect.

"Thanks Remus," said Sirius. "Although, I still think that the tie goes-"

"Don't touch the tie," Remus said in a menacing tone.

Sirius let his hands fall to his sides.

"Let us don our masks," said James in an exaggerated English accent. The three of them put on their masks for the ball.

Peter came out of the bathroom. "How do I look?" he asked.

The other boys laughed.

"Sorry," said James, recovering first. "You look fine. We just still can't believe you have a date."

"But your tie is all wrong," said Remus, coming forward. "Hang on. Am I the only one out of the four of us who knows how to tie a tie?"

The other three nodded.

Remus sighed.

**.x.x.x.**

**Hey my reader, hope you're all looking forward to the next chapter…it's the ball one! Don't miss it! I've already started writing it and I hope that you all will like it!**

**Oh my God! I just had to republish this chapter to thank all of you so very very much! I can't believe I got 50 reviews! I just started this story because I always thought it would be cool for Lily and the Marauders to go to a Masquerade Ball...I read so many books with balls like this in them and it was just a small idea that has turned into a huge sensation! I never thought so many people would end up loving it as much as all of you do! Thank you all for your lovely, lovely reviews; I feel so appreciated! Everyone who reviewed gets 50 virtual hugs each because I am just so thankful to you all!**

**By the way, I have actually written the ninth chapter of this story, but I just like to keep you all in suspense...haha I'm so mean...but I'm not sure if I should end it after the ninth chapter or do the tenth like I planned...please tell me what you want!**

**Remember, reviewers, 50 virtual hugs!**


	9. The Masquerade Ball

**Chapter 9**

**Disclaimer:** I own the piece of paper that I wrote the draft of this chapter on but I most certainly do not own Harry Potter.

"Let us enter the Masquerade Ball!" said Lily and she led her two friends into the Great Hall.

"Remember," Vanessa hissed. "I'm Heather, you're me and Heather, you're Lily."

"Right," they nodded.

"Wait..." began Heather. "That doesn't-"

"Oh, quiet!" hissed Vanessa.

They walked into a sea of ball gowns and suits, dancing and spinning.

"Everyone looks so beautiful," breathed Lily, gazing around.

All around them, the students of Hogwarts were waltzing in time to the orchestra, spinning and lifting into the air.

"This is…" Heather struggled to find the right word. "…magical."

"Well, it is a magic school," said Vanessa, in a tone that suggested the obvious.

Lily hit her friend playfully. "Don't spoil the moment."

**.x.x.x.**

The four Marauders entered the Great Hall.

"I see Sally-Rose!" cried Peter. "See you guys later." He ran to meet his partner who actually looked happy at the sight of Peter.

"What did Heather say?" Remus muttered to himself. "Sky blue, that's right." He looked around then nudged James and Sirius. "I see our dates," he told them.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Sirius. He marched forward and the other two followed.

Lily felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Vanessa?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"What the he- Yeah, that's me," she replied, biting her lip for almost spoiling the plan.

"Heather, is that you?" Remus asked when Vanessa turned around.

"Yes, it's me, Remus," said Vanessa, trying to sound like Heather.

"Lily, you look…sort of different," said James.

Heather held his gaze. "Maybe it's because I'm wearing a dress," she replied, saying the only reason she could think of.

"Yeah, maybe," said James, but he still didn't look quite sure.

**.x.x.x.**

"Would you like to dance?" Sirius asked after they had had a few glasses of punch.

"Sure," said Lily. They stood up and moved to the dance floor to waltz.

"You've gotten more graceful, Vanessa," said Sirius as they spun.

"Oh, really?" said Lily and she purposefully stepped on his foot.

"Ow!" cried Sirius. He hopped as they waltzed. "Maybe only a bit of an improvement."

"Do you like waltzing, Heather?" Remus asked as they danced for the fourth time in a row.

"It's enjoyable," replied Vanessa as Remus lifted her up. She looked over the crowd to spy Sirius who was still hopping.

"I still think you look different," said James as he and Heather spun.

"How?" Heather asked.

"I dunno," replied James. "I thought…never mind." But as he watched her he realized it couldn't have been Lily. Her eyes just weren't the same.

Heather blinked as she saw James staring at her. Does he know? she thought to herself.

**.x.x.x.**

Lily and Sirius sat down at the side of dance floor, at one of the small tables.

"My foot is killing me," winced Sirius.

Lily wanted to put a spell on his foot to stop the pain, but she feared it would be 'un-Vanessa'. Instead, she did it secretly.

"Hey, my foot feels much better," said Sirius. "But I still want to sit here."

Lily sighed. How could Vanessa like such a lazy person? Then again, she thought, Vanessa's pretty lazy herself.

"Heather, can we please sit down?" begged Remus. "We've danced eight times already."

"Fine," grumbled Vanessa. "But let's sit here." She chose a table next to where Lily and Sirius were sitting. She winked at Lily.

Lily smiled back.

"Lily, can we sit down?" James asked.

"Sure," said Heather and she let James lead her off the dance floor. They sat at a table behind where Lily and Sirius were sitting.

The real Lily signalled to her friends and they all went over to her table. James signalled to Sirius and Remus and they came over to him.

"How's it going?" Lily whispered.

"Alright," said Vanessa. "But I think Remus thinks that Heather's suddenly gotten a burst of energy. We danced eight times and all because I wanted him to lift me up so I could see Sirius."

"Well, Sirius said that you had gotten more graceful so I stepped on his foot. Really hard too."

Vanessa gasped. "You stepped on my Sirius' foot? I have to go see if he's okay…"

"No!" said Heather urgently, pulling her friend back by her sleeve. "Don't you think he'll get a bit suss if you, as in me, goes and asks if his foot's alright?"

"Oh, alright," grumbled Vanessa.

"I put a spell on his foot anyway, so it doesn't hurt anymore," said Lily.

"How did you do that?" asked Heather. "He knows Vanessa is pretty cra-" She saw the look on her friend's face. "He knows Vanessa's not the best witch in the world," she said quickly.

"I did it secretly under the table. He didn't even suspect anything."

"He's like that," said Vanessa smugly.

"What about Potter?" Lily asked turning to Heather.

"Do you even care?" Vanessa broke in. "I mean it's not you like him, is it?"

Lily went red. "Well…uh…" In truth, she had been thinking that if James really liked her, he would see through Heather's disguise. And if he really liked her, she might go out with him.

"You actually like him, don't you?" Vanessa said incredulously.

"Just tell me what happened," Lily quickly interrupted, turning to Heather.

"I think he knows it's not you," Heather admitted.

"How?"

"I don't know, he just kept saying that I look different and he keeps staring at my eyes."

**.x.x.x.**

"I just don't think it's Lily," James said. "Her eyes aren't right."

"Her eyes aren't right," repeated Sirius. "Maybe she's having a bad eye day," he said sarcastically.

"No, Padfoot, believe me. Her eyes just aren't the same."

"Sure," said Remus, secretly rolling his eyes at Sirius. "Well, I know Heather's pretty much the same, except she seems to have a lot of energy. A lot of energy."

"Yeah, well, I complimented Vanessa for having grace then she goes and stamps on my foot. It doesn't hurt anymore, but still. She shouldn't have been graceful in the first place," said Sirius.

James looked at his friends. "Don't you guys see what this means?" he asked them.

Sirius and Remus gave him a look as though he had gone mad.

"Who do we know is really energetic?"

"Vanessa," Sirius said slowly. "But-"

"Who do we know has dull eyes?"

"Heather does, I guess," said Remus. "But they're not that-"

"And who do we know is really graceful?" James asked. He answered his own question. "Lily." He looked around at his friend's still confused faces. "Don't you see? They tried to trick us. They dressed up as each other to trick us." He stood up. "But now we're gonna cheat them out of their own game. Remus, ask Lily to dance. Sirius, ask Heather. And I'll ask Vanessa."

They strode over to where the three girls were sitting; watching the people on the dance floor.

"Lily?" said Remus. "Would you like to dance?"

Heather looked up in surprise. "Um, sure."

"Heather? May we dance?" asked Sirius.

Vanessa smiled at him. "Alright."

"Vanessa? May I have this dance?" James requested.

Lily looked at him. His hazel eyes were dancing in the candlelight. "Yes," she said quietly.

James took her hand and led her out to the dance floor.

Heather looked up at Remus' face. He looked pale but he was smiling.

The orchestra struck up a slow dance.

Vanessa looked at Sirius' handsome face. She loved the way his hair fell into his eyes.

Lily tried not to look at James. She feared he would realize it was her; although she thought he already knew that.

James held Lily's hand and put the other around his waist. Lily was still avoiding his gaze.

Sirius began dancing faster than the music and Vanessa didn't mind. She was in the mood for a faster dance anyway. She stood on her tippy-toes to whisper in his ear. Sirius nodded and they left the Great Hall, holding hands.

Remus leant into Heather's ear. "I know it's you," he whispered.

Heather grinned at him. "How did you know?"

"It was James really," Remus admitted. "But I mean, the other you was quite energetic."

"Vanessa just wanted to see Sirius when you lifted her up," Heather told him.

Remus laughed and pulled Heather closer.

James looked down at Lily. Her eyes weren't green; they were a sort of hazel. He pulled his wand slowly out of his pocket. He aimed carefully at Lily's face.

Lily gasped. "What are you doing?"

"Fixing your eyes," replied James and he changed Lily's eyes back to their normal sparkling green. "And I'll fix your hair while I'm at it." He changed her hair back to its normal red. He then put his wand back in his pocket.

Lily blinked and gazed down at their feet, which were moving in time.

"I realized that Heather couldn't have been you when I looked at her eyes. Hers are almost always dull unless she's really happy. And yours always sparkle."

"They do?" Lily asked.

James nodded. "And then Sirius, Remus and I put together what each of us had said about you and your friends. You each acted like each other, you know."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, the fake you had dull eyes, the fake Vanessa was graceful and the fake Heather was far too energetic. I had to explain it to the others, but they finally got it. And so, we asked each of our actual dates to dance, and here we are." James sighed. "I just hope Peter's having more luck with his date."

Lily giggled. "Peter has a date?"

"Yeah, tell me about it. Some girl called Sally-Rose Jackson."

Lily laughed harder. "Sally-Rose? She's a little smartass. Thinks she smart when really she's as dumb as a plank of wood."

"Sounds like she and Peter are perfect for each other."

Lily laughed and smiled up at James.

James pulled her closer.

"Vanessa," said Sirius. "This is the real you." He had had his feet stepped on five times now.

"I know. How did you know?"

"It was James. He realized."

"Oh. I should have known you weren't smart enough to work it out yourself."

"Hey!" said Sirius and he pushed Vanessa away. She giggled and pushed him back.

"What happened to your lovely hazel eyes?" asked Sirius. "And your nice purple hair?"

"Oh, they were charmed away. But if you want them back…"

Sirius nodded so Vanessa pulled out her wand and changed her hair and eyes back to normal.

"That's the Vanessa I know," said Sirius, pulling Vanessa towards him.

Vanessa giggled and smiled up at Sirius.

"Can I change your hair and eyes back to normal?" Remus asked Heather. "I'd rather not feel like I'm kissing Lily Evans."

Heather laughed and nodded. Remus pulled out his wand and Heather's eyes turned back to their normal blue and her hair back to brown curls.

"But what about the dress?" Remus asked. "Green is certainly not your colour."

"You sound like Vanessa," said Heather. "But I have an idea." She pulled out her own wand. She pointed it at her dress and it changed to her blue one. "Better?"

"Better."

"What the-" said Vanessa as her dress changed to the black and red one that she would have worn, had she been herself and not pretended to be Heather.

"That dress suits you so much better, Vanessa," said Sirius, grinning down at her. "And that's the dress my tie matches."

Vanessa glanced at his tie and laughed.

"What is hap-" Lily said as she looked at her dress that was changing to her emerald green one.

"Now that is much better," James said, looking at Lily's confused expression. "I have to say; the green matches your eyes, much better than that red and black one. I don't remember you having red and black eyes."

Lily smiled. "I should hope not."

The clock struck midnight.

Remus looked into Heather's blue eyes.

Sirius looked down at Vanessa. Her hazel eyes danced.

James looked at Lily. Her green eyes sparkled and she smiled.

Remus leant in.

Sirius moved forwards.

James pulled Lily even closer.

On the twelfth strike of the clock, the three couples kissed.


End file.
